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Major Silva Pais, the last director of Portugal's repressive PIDE police force – operative during the country's “New State” period – has been implicated in a play, in the 1965 assassination of democratic opposition politician General Humberto Delgado.

As Global Voices reported in May 2011, a criminal case is currently underway by Pais’ nephews against the author of the play A Filha Rebelde (The Maverick Daughter) and the directors of the National Theatre D. Maria II, who staged it in 2007.

General Humberto Delgado

Identity card of the director of PIDE. Image from the public domain

Delgado broke with the Portuguese national-Catholic regime, enrolling in the 1958 presidential election which was called by dictatorial then Prime Minister Salazar. Surprisingly announced as a “universal vote”, in reality only the literate could vote and illiteracy at the time in the country was overwhelming.

Electoral fraud at the time was common too – even the dead “voted”. However, the “universal vote” was, to Salazar, an expression of mere consent and did not provide realistic options for voters.

Delgado presented himself as a candidate and the campaign was vicious. He was prohibited from holding demonstrations, rallies, and parades, and was prevented from coming into contact with the general public.

Allegedly beaten at the polls, the general left the country, denouncing the result as fraud. The PIDE was instructed to kidnap him outside the country, and eventually beat him to death in Spain, staging an accidental shooting. Though there was not an official version, the pattern of events was eventually clarified in court in 1981. A later trial to ascertain Silva Pais’ involvement in Delgado's death was never completed, as Pais died before the verdict was delivered.

The killer Silva Pais was being judged specifically for [his] involvement in these crimes [the assassination of Humberto Delgado and his secretary], when he died of natural causes six months before the verdict was read.

The nephews of Major Pais insist that the play (focused on their uncle's daughter) is deeply offensive to the memory of their uncle, saying: “three lines of the play suggest that [Major Silva Pais is] linked to the murders”.

Their request for compensation of 30,000 euros from the theatre directors and the playwright has been in court since May 2011, with a verdict due in late July.

Violation of human rights?

The whole controversy, it could be argued, fits well in a country where the very translation of the official European Convention is flawed: the word “reputation” is mistaken in the Portuguese version as meaning “honor”. The mere existence of the court process may be in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Wall in Aljube jail with the names of the men and women murdered by the PIDE, some by direct order from Silva Pais. Photo by Daniel Jota, shared in a Facebook group in solidarity with the defendants in criminal proceedings against 'The Maverick Daughter'.

Rosa Delgado, a researcher, points to the possibility of opening up here “an extremely serious precedent” [pt] in Portuguese democracy. There are also those claiming (including the author of this post) that the court proceedings undertaken by the Portuguese public court are in violation of Articles 17 and 46 of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Data is missing on the issue, both in the press and in the blogosphere. For example, was there confirmed indictment or a charge by a judge to take the debate to trial?

Protests and controversy

There has been plenty of protest regarding the issue. The civic movement ‘Não apaguem a memória‘ (Do not to erase the memory) [pt] recalls:

The atrocities inflicted on opponents, by inspectors and agents under the guidance of Silva Pais, fill millions of pages in the archives of Torre do Tombo [the Portuguese National Archive of the Tower of the Tomb]

Picture from the play 'The Maverick Daughter' exhibited in the National Theatre D.Maria II (TNDM II) in 2007. Copyright Margarida Dias, TNDM II.

In Caligrafias ìberes Rosario Duarte da Costa stresses [pt] the seriousness of censoring the former director of the National Theatre, a man of culture and a university professor, who lost his directorate during this legal process and because of it (a fact that was not reported in the mainstream media).

(…) The humiliation of a playwright's submission to the scum of the probation, (…) the nonsense of being interrogated (…) without access to a defence lawyer, (…) the absurdity (…) which turns a task of literary criticism into a matter of criminal order and debate.

The resistance shown through this case, to the (binding) criteria of the European Court on freedom of expression, creation, research and awareness has raised serious issues in Portugal; many are waiting to see how they resolve.